In full bloom.

Today this boy and I walked to preschool (okay so it's only like one block away) We passed the apple orchard at the end of our street, ooed and ahhed at the new blossoms, laughed when we tried to climb them ("fat mom in a little treeee")...and then an animated bluebird landed on my shoulder. 

(that last part was a lie) 

When Sheamus was born Adam and I separately got the impression that he would always look after his momma (that's me). Not in an annoying popped collar mommas boy way, but rather a quiet protector. I think this suits him, and actually i think he will bring a confident assurance to many others besides me. It occurred to me last night that he is starting to grow out of wearing his costumes. Not completely. but those days are becoming few and far between. Someone please tell me there are days ahead as sweet as the ones I have now with this 5 year old munch. Is it possible for him to grow up and not turn all teen angsty and cynical? I can take the pimples and dirty bathrooms, but that classic Sheamus sweetness is a trait I will grieve if its ever lost completely. No pressure Sheamus ;) Since i'm his mom, ill probably always see it anyway. As for now...i think we will play dress up, cause Zip-a-dee-do-dah...today he is still five.

team Boo ♥'s you

if you were the floor i'd wanna be the rug

My computer has owned me this week.

i have been eating out of its stupid plastic hand. But i've finally finished and uploaded my valentine project for my dear sweet husband...and its not even March! Take that old farty computer (just kidding apple i still love you)

*thanks to those who sent in your kids love quotes. It was fun reading them (and i wish there was space to include them all!) Thanks to the moms of Jack, Travis, Sadie, Adrian, Quinn and Gibson for letting me include their adorable thoughts on love with you here :) kids are so silly.


team Boo ♥'s you

Mermaid Lullaby

{via Purl Bee}

somebody made this! with their brain and their hands. i'm jeal.

this week is making me sad. i won't get into why. but it's times like these when i'd love a momma come play with my hair and sing me to sleep. any momma will do (that's a lie, she has to smell good). this is what i sing to my kids when they need a little extra help settling into their beds (after which they are forbidden to come out of their rooms for ANY reason other than the house being on fire...but then they do anyway when they have a hangnail or something else equally important ;)

(i substitute "mermaid" with their name...or as sheamus requests "handsome boy")

Rest my little darling

You’ve had a busy day

The sun is a'falling

And it’s time for me to say

Hush, hush, hush little mermaid,

Good night.

Hush, hush little mermaid,

Sleep tight.

Close your eyes,

Close your eyes and lay down your head,

In your peaceful ocean bed.

Have a snooze, please, like I said and

Hush, hush, hush little mermaid,

Good night.

Hush little mermaid,

Sleep tight.

You’re feeling kind of sleepy,

You’re feeling kind of loopy,

Your fins are getting floppy,

And your eyelids getting droopy.

May your dreams be sweet,

As you fall into a snooze.

Perhaps again we’ll meet,

But now we have to cruise.

So hush, hush, hush little mermaid,

Good night.

Hush, hush little mermaid,

Sleep tight.

Hush, hush little mermaid,

Good night.

Hush little mermaid,

Hush little mermaid,

Good night.

The Backyardigans - Mermaid Lull...

mermaid lullaby backyardigans songs | music videos | lyrics

p.s. i'll be okay :)
team Boo ♥'s you

today is not a dress rehersal...it is your life.

(i am trying to be better about inserting myself into my life exploitation/blog...I'm pretty uncomfortable posting pictures of myself. It makes me feel vain. or like you'd imagine i was all "ooh this is an awesome picture of me" and you'd be all "meh" But seriously there aren't many days when i am not a total dirty slob, so its slim pickin's. This one is in disneyland on the POTC ride. The first two sheamus smiled and i looked like a tranny. The third I looked fine but sheamus's "cheese" face was lacking enthusiasm. But guess what? I am the teamBoo captain so MY normal picture wins. booyah) 

moving on to less lame tangents....

Today sheamus talked to the garbage can. Actually he does this on occasion. "hang on" he said "I'll get your other tooth soon.....My food (garbage) is your candy, huh"

Today Elyott had the "BEST day EVER!" She had the same snack at school as her friend Hope. I love this.

Today Sonny pooped on my lap.

Today Adams crustache was off the hook. He went to the gym with it unshaved, and a cutoff t-shirt with his own face printed on the front. Hows that for confidence!?

Today i realized I could "fit" into an pre-pregnancy pair of pants. Translation: it fit over my butt without giving me a giant camel toe. (...buuuuut I still have to tie the top button with a hair thing).

Almost. almost.

What happended in your "today"?

team boo ♥'s you

F-I-V-E

I am pretty sure 5 is the very max for a traditional photo booth

[but thats only if you've got mad skillz, which we don't]

we haven't technically done a photo booth pic for 2010

so this will have to do.

unless our family grows some more...

in which case I will just have to grow a longer arm :)

team boo ♥'s you

*p.s. has it really been 12 days since i posted last!? sheesh guys, time flies when your playing angry birds obsessively on your phone....sorry charlies.

picture this.

I thought for mothers day, the sisters could pool our offspring together for a cousins picture to give to the grandmas. With several identical experiences under my belt, i've decided from now on, it should be mandatory to also have someone to stand by and film a panoramic view all photo sessions, as they are so ridiculous it's retarded. 

Funny yes, but mostly stressful and frustrating for the parent.

What must our kids be thinking??
Its possible they are feeling a little scared...defiant....but probably mostly embarrased for us as we stand behind the camera clapping, jumping, yelling, indian chanting, rap video dancing. Any regard to our surroundings dissipate as we stoop lower and lower in an effort to get all the children looking in the same direction at the same time.

It is always clear who is really running the show, and it is never the crazy lady with no makeup, spitting her tongue and repetitively whooping names and noises all in the name of....memories(?)

Yet, all we ever have to show for what felt like a mini nervous breakdown, is a nanosecond in time where the stars aligned, and the kids seem to appear to be sweethearts ;)


basically kids are turds. and we are the crazy people who love and look after them unconditionaly.

kids 1, parents 0

team boo ♥'s you

painting the roses red...

....and doors blue.
[from dusty purple]
which i did last week:

ah new beginnings.
fresh paint and fresh starts.
Like me here with you. again. finally. and some new faces even!
sheesh...you guys sure make it easy to suck at documenting my life ;]

like how Sheamus calls the suction end of his coveted happy face toothbrush "f*%ktion cups"
[shocking from such a sweet like munchkin voice just minding his own bidness in la la land]

fake girl scouts with my sweet Elyott who cant commit to anything I officially sign her up for to save her life. Instead we sew our own brown sashes and tell regular girl scouts to suck it.
[except not when it's cookie season ]

adopting out my stray molester cat and her kittens.
sweet. but still cats. no way around that.

My magical sisterhood-of-the-traveling-miracle-pants that are finally starting to wear away at the butt....which is super annoying cause mama's not ready to buy new "fat pants"

and of course lil cub and his smiles.
[still his only trick, other than his squealing's uncanny likeness to a baby piglet]

If you have felt abandoned by me, i hope you have found your way in cyberspace here .
...a blog truly deserving of your readership.
If not, you should "go to there" as she is about the sweetest girl I can imagine. 

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is....
Megan.....will you go to prom with me??
or just be my mom?
you choose.

yes, my door may now be blue [cause purple is for cat ladies]....but you are still just as welcome.

team boo ♥'s you

*p.s. thanks for being my new scrabble friends ;)

sister christian

This week team Boo made the 17 hour trek (factoring in the extra 5 hours in the car for blizzard delays ;) to park city,UT This photo depicts my very sweet and eager Elyott before riding to the top of the hill only to have her teeny 41 pond body catapulted off her tube at the first bump in the track. In retrospect there is nothing sadder than seeing a little kid get their glasses knocked off...and that is why I am grateful my tube was going too fast down the hill so she couldn't hear me accidentally still laughing. Maybe it was the "Utah" (aka. "The Uterus" ) confusing my maternal instincts?? Whatevs, when all was said and done no children were phisically (or emotionally) scarred during the whole tubing experience ;) Cross your fingers the drive home will welcome bluer skies!!! Back to the AZ (aka "the armpit") grind....

**UPDATE: the ride home involved sitting next to a dirty dog in the back seat, my 12 year old brother with a cold and both my kids barfing and diarrhea-ing the whole way home. But I guess it always could have been worse (no it couldn't).

....ahh making memories.

Sonny is one month...

Look how excited we are! Sonny facts: -he has smiled 3 times at mommy and no times at dad -unlike elyotts sweet smelling breast milk poop...sonny's smells like death/a dairy farm. -he has giant man hands (but beautiful nail beds ;) -he has granted me 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep....kinda -he is half human, a quarter squealing piglet, and a quarter Italian mobster -he snorts more than momma -he is the sweetest little McGooch I know

warning: this may be super boring to most of you

details shmetails...

In all of this fresh baby haze

I have left a few of you unsatisfied with a severe lack of details

what kind of a female am i??

(It must be that intoxicating new baby smell)

Sonny, like my two other McGoos, came extremely fast

when I got to the hospital I was 9 cm

(so, for those of you who have not had children

thats like 4 seconds before the baby "turtle heads")

I did finally get to have an epidural (kinda)...Hallelujah!!

(i didn't have time with Elyott or Sheamus)

it wasn't in there 5 minutes before Sonny came out peaceful and very unsquished

just enough to take the edge off what feels nothing short of a train driving out of my hospital gown ;)

he was 7 lbs 15 oz

(my biggest baby by 1 pound)

Elyott and Sheamus are adjusting amazingly!

neither can get enough...

Sheamus asked while Sonny slept "is he a frozen one?....I love this boy!"

and now instead of being worried that we would name the new baby "Sheamus" he wishes his own name was "Sonny"

Elyott runs in the door everyday from school with a new kick in her step ready to greet baby.

She is very proud of being able to hold him while standing

She is so nurturing and loving to both my boys

Such a sweet big sister!

team boo ♥'s you

before and after

It is indescribable the feelings I have when a new baby of mine arrives.

basically, how can I pass so much time sitting on a couch looking at this beautiful creation??

but i assure you i CAN 

{and have been}

hours before...

and after

...just one more reason my life will never be the same!

I am in la la LOVE!!!!

{with a little MacGruber }

team boo ♥'s you

we added a boo!

meet our sweet new team member...

{born 2 . 13 . 2010}

team boo ♥'s you!

This, my friends, is why little boys rock....

Lately I have been a little grouchy.

my days becoming progressively non structured and non-inventive

with sporadic spurts of cleaning or walking the aisles of Target or something

It's my fault because somewhere in the last few weeks I began to assume that by now,

this baby would be on the flip-side of my lady bidness.

Luckily I have to rays of sunshine that remind me hourly how lucky I am to have my "everyday"

Yesterday morning Sheamus crawled into bed with me after a "bad dream"

(about a monster who wanted to tell him jokes??)

and professed his love to his stuffy nosed crab of a mother

and it turned out to be just what I needed:

Me checking the time in the early hours....

"You have a clock on your phone!?! Your're so funny momma...(whispers) and BEAUTIFUL.

I'm keeping this momma.

And I'm not gonna say i hate blue houses anymore...

(something he says when he wishes he lived at his cousins yellow house instead of our blue one)

cause you're the only one I want to hug! I love you mommy, you're so comfy.

When are we allowed to kiss your lips again??"

(since I have a major cold)

Basically this means that I can't keep griping about the stretch mark that is slowly spreading further up my belly.

I mean, I CAN...

But maybe i should just get over myself ;)

There are very few things in life that make my heart sing more than hearing a little munchkin voice call me "momma"

life is good.

team boo ♥'s you

go humans go.

This is Sheamus.

he isn't sick.

he is super "...thept he can't fly"

however...

His daddy IS sick

 in the "hos-ti-bal"

if sheamus were superman he'd "kill all the dragon buggies that are making daddy sick"

I am SO thankful for all the teamBoo friends and family who have stepped up to help with the kids 

I LOVE YOU!!!

....and those prayers on his behalf. 

They are working!

...and mostly thankful for Heavenly father for putting the right doctor miraculously in our path.

Things are looking up (finally) and soon (??) we can have our daddy back home.

...only he might be living in a plastic bubble ;)

team boo ♥'s you!!!!!!!!

a very dikefest christmas...

Making Christmas eve wishes...

Sheamus told me "mom, all i want for christmas, is you"

what a sweet kid.

...or maybe he just knows how to manipulate the crap out of me.

This christmas I wish for at least one kid that doesn't regularly throw up at the dinner table. Christmas eve was Sheamus's turn...

nestled children....

Surprise!...Santa installed a swing in our front room...

bad idea Santa.

but at least he also brought this spazzy kid a helmet...

Hope your Christmas was a blast :)

team boo ♥'s you

forever young...

Here is our annual year end video.

If you are a Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt or Uncle to TeamBoo, it is a spoiler of your envelope to come.

If not, please enjoy some of our fondest memories of 2009....

by team boo.

{to see last years click here}

team boo ♥'s you

G is for grandparents....

...to whom this post is dedicated.

its just a bunch of family yaddie yaddie yadda

But, its what gives the grandma's and grandpa's battery power.

It was SOOO nice to visit the cabin!

In true Sheamus fashion, when daddy told Sheamus to go pee right after we arrived...

he stepped one foot out the door and peed on the deck.

And it was already cold enough that

it was still slightly frozen when we woke up in the morning ;)

{G is also for groundhogs day, cause i'm pretty sure i've told this nerdy story before}

Thanks Jeanine and Spencer for creating such an awesome place for the family to get away :)

we miss you!!

say yes to sharing....and Turkey

Instead of Turkey and pie, Adam wants Ham and cookies. 
what a fool.
I love Turkey, I don't care who's eating it...i'm eating it right now.

{click here for more obnoxious turkey fun}

team boo ♥'s you

thank you...have a nice day

In honor of Thanksgiving, I forced my family to make a thankfulness chain.

I worried they might think it was super lame, but we actually had a lot of fun thinking of all sorts of little things we overlook on a daily basis...

Elyott: school, love, grandma and grandpas, colors, cousin Scott

Momma: Tina Fey, music, my home, toilets, humor, turd ice

Sheamus: Andy pants, Travis, eyeballs, wolverine costumes, bottles (??)

Daddy: baby "Uzi", Sports, his bed, technology, nachos

...and it goes without saying, all the real obvious ones like family, a loving Heavenly father and just being alive!! ;)

(Also, i will be thankful if Sheamus gets a hearty meal come Thursday...gawl)

Hope your Thanksgiving is bright!

team boo ♥'s you

more mexican memories...

Adam bought this shirt for halloween last year....when I told him i hated it, he cut off the sleeves and started wearing it as an even sicker beach shirt.

What we learned in Mexico...

1. don't let your kids do flour relay races when they have braids in their hair (water plus four equals glue in your scalp)

2. try not to get hurt in mexico or you will end up in an doctors home office with a mystery shot in your arm and your genitals feeling like they're on fire.

3. pregnancy skin sensitivity will still allow blotchy sun damage through 50 spf on my forehead. 

4. there is nothing that will stop the scrappy mexican birds from shanking food practically right out of your mouth.

5. there is endless privacy for Matthew McConaughey style "beach time"

6. Sheamus has the most awesome perma mad scientist beach hair ever.

7. there is no better way to ensure quality family time than on a remote resort on a stretch of mexican coast....ARRIBA!!

team boo ♥'s you